Alexander Volkanovski: Ilia Topuria rematch is 'one last crack' at UFC title, 'and I'm going to put everything into it'

Alexander Volkanovski might have been the most invested viewer attending UFC 308 this past Saturday.

The featherweight division soaked up the spotlight on the formerly coined "Fight Island" of Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Headlining the night of action was one of the most anticipated fights of 2024 between the champion Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway. To say it delivered would be an understatement.

Volkanovski, 36, arrived early for UFC 308 fight week without a fight booked or backup duties on the docket. He was there to make his presence felt after conversations with UFC brass Dana White and Hunter Campbell. Topuria won the incredibly high-level tilt via a jaw-dropping third-round knockout, the first knockout loss in Holloway's legendary career.

White and Campbell were informed by the former champion Volkanovski that he wanted to approach the winner in the octagon afterward. The interaction happened, albeit briefly, and the Aussie refrained from confrontation. Words of congratulations and respect were shared and now it's onto the future.

Although familiar with both men — having defeated Holloway thrice and lost the title to Topuria — Volkanovski wasn't surprised by the outcome. If anything, it was the path taken to get to the result.

"I've been told I was next, but I wanted to go over there and make sure of that and let everyone know at the same time," Volkanovski said on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show." "I wanted to be respectful with it.

"We all know Ilia is good. I was picking Max, I thought Max would win. I was like, 'I think he's going to make it hard for Ilia, and even if he lands on Max, let's see if that invincible chin holds up.' But I knew Ilia can crack, so I knew that was still going to be always a chance that he gets the finish.

"I'm surprised (it came) within the third," he added. "Max showed Ilia that respect and didn't really pour on the pressure because he knew, 'I can get hit if I pour on too much pressure.' So he wasn't able to really wear on that gas tank. Ilia's gas tank held up and found that finish, which was impressive."

Volkanovski and Topuria's lone collision came this past February, when the international stars met in Los Angeles at UFC 298. After a competitive and thrilling first round that could have gone either way, the Australian all-time great suffered a second consecutive knockout loss.

Since then, Volkanovski has been promised he'll fight for the title upon his return. With Topuria still in possession of the most prized possession at 145 pounds, "Volk" is studying up in early preparation for that rematch.

"Did Ilia show me anything new?" Volkanovski asked. "Now, that's the Ilia that I knew was always there, anyway. He's always been good, so we always knew that he's got that punching power and he's good at setting it up. Nothing surprised me in that sense.

"To do what he did to [Holloway], that probably surprised me because I was thinking maybe [Holloway's] chin [would hold up], because so many people have tried cracking that chin. I just thought this is going to be a test for him because [Topuria is] probably going to go in the later rounds, maybe his power might not be as effective as it always is. Let's see how he handles that, and he handled it well."

From the Holloway side, the recent challenger had arguably the most success of anyone to fight the undefeated 16-0 Topuria so far. However, Holloway officially won the second round on only one of the three judges' scorecards at UFC 308.

Was it enough to learn how to approach Topuria from Holloway's performance? Not necessarily, says Volkanovski.

"I don't believe I really fought my fight, but I was still able to land and still make Ilia miss," Volkanovski said. "But the thing is with Ilia, he don't care. He might miss, you might start landing — especially while he's fresh, he won't be phased. You land, he'll just keep coming forward. He won't care about things not going his way. And that's sort of what I've seen in there (at UFC 308) as well.

"Even though Max was having some success, so was Ilia. He didn't go off task. He just was pushing forward. He goes, 'I need to eventually find it.' Maybe stoic through it all, not phased. As I was saying, I was landing every one of my jabs (in February), most of my jabs were landing clean. I landed some clean shots, but trying to avoid things straight away at the same time, which I probably could have capitalized a little bit more. But he didn't care. He would just be like, 'I'll eventually find it. I'll eventually find it.'

"So that's impressive when things aren't going your way but having that confidence to know that I'll eventually get there," he concluded.

Volkanovski was looking at a rematch with either outcome of UFC 308's main event. In the case of Holloway, it would have been an unprecedented fourth fight for a one-sided "rivalry." But there wasn't any frustration or disagreement with having Saturday's title fight between his hoped return to action; Volkanovski was clear about desiring a break after two tough knockout losses in a short span.

Ultimately, Volkanovski did always want to get back his loss though.

UFC recently announced it will return to Sydney, Australia, for a big event in early 2025, hence Volkanovski's concern about landing his next fight promptly. Meanwhile, Topuria has to have a title defense in his country of Spain in 2025. Thankfully, White and Co. seem to agree whenever asked.

Going into his opponents' backyards to sling leather is nothing new for Volkanovski. The wait will be worth it and he doesn't expect it to take too long, hearing the UFC believe he can return early next year.

"It's going to be tough to get [Topuria] over to Sydney. I always knew that. That's why I was saying maybe I'd prefer Max winning, just purely for that sense. But at least I know I'm guaranteed next," Volkanovski said.

"We'll see where it is. Remember, Madrid or a stadium or something sounds great. I'll fight in enemy territory. I don't think I'm an enemy anywhere in the world at the moment — I hope not, anyway — but obviously he's going to have a massive crowd. I'm OK with that. I fought in enemy territories how many times? Been booed plenty of times. And that'd be huge. Imagine a massive event in Spain. It's just, when is it? Is that later in 2025 and I'm waiting like two years before I fight?

"I'm not getting any younger, everyone knows that. I've got one last crack at this title, and I'm going to put everything into it. So hopefully earlier next year, we can make it happen."

Activity has always been something the former featherweight king has proudly boasted, and he showed that off mightily toward the end of his reign. Unfortunately for Volkanovski, it's exactly the attribute that cost him his throne.

A lot was made by pundits and fans about the short-notice challenge Volkanovski accepted for his champion vs. champion rematch against lightweight's Islam Makhachev in October 2023. One perfectly placed head kick in round two was all it took from the Dagestani destroyer to become the first to finish Volkanovski since 2013.

But in terms of regrets for taking the Makhachev rematch on short notice, they still don't exist.

"I've always known that the only way I lose is if I get caught," Volkanovski said.

"Maybe with Islam, he can take you into deep waters and then you might be able to have the close fight like we did [in our first fight]. There's only very, very few fighters [who can do that]. I don't think anyone in my division can do that with me to beat me in a decision, actually beat me. But I've always known everyone can get caught. So I think me fighting so soon — maybe I just didn't get to fight my fight. Doesn't mean he couldn't catch me. It doesn't mean that I wouldn't be able to be knocked out. And I was only knocked out because of what happened with Islam. But, I mean, I would have been a lot more comfortable and happy with myself if I was able to fight my fight and go into camp not avoiding contact and being careful with things. So maybe you're building habits, maybe you are subconsciously losing confidence that way. You would never been able to have told me this beforehand. There's no way.

"So a lot of people were like, 'Your team should have said this and all that.' No one was going to tell me anything. I had it in my head that, trust me, we're good. It ain't going to affect me."